Even in the locker room, where banter between players can be aplenty, Griffin does his communicating subtly.

Whether it’s a raised eyebrow or a sly grin or a tilted head, message and context come across clearly even when accentuated with just a few well-placed words.

Often wrapped in a biting, dry sense of humor that fits him like a tailored Armani suit.

The quiet personality meshes seamlessly with the more vocal Chris Paul, a nonstop talker who leads with his words as much as his play. Between the rapid-fire Paul and the subdued Griffin, the Clippers strike a perfect leadership equilibrium.

Not surprising, then, there was a noticeable imbalance in Game 1 on Monday night.

What we ultimately learned after the Clippers stormed into Houston and ripped away home-court advantage is that Griffin is quite the talker when he decides to speak up.

Even if he does it with a minimal amount of words.

The 26 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists he dropped on the Rockets echoed from Houston all the way to Los Angeles. If Texans woke up in the Lone Star State with headaches Tuesday morning, they have the Clippers’ big redhead to blame.

Griffin roared and thundered and bellowed his way to his second straight postseason triple-double, becoming the first player with back-to-back triple-doubles in the postseason since Jason Kidd in 2002 and joining John Havelick and Wilt Chamberlain as the only other non-guard to accomplish the feat back-to-back.

“I mean, what can you say?” Clippers forward Matt Barnes marveled. “26, 13 and 14. That’s like a grown man triple-double right there.”

With the deep voice and menacing look to go with it.

All of which the Clippers desperately needed with their All-Star guard unable to play.

With Paul playing the role of de facto assistant coach from the bench — he told Clippers coach Doc Rivers afterward he’s never sweated so much during a game — and Griffin carrying a loud stick, the Clippers thumped the Rockets to take immediate control of this seven-game series.

Griffin was everywhere doing everything, playing facilitator from the top of the key, creating scoring opportunities for teammates or himself, and defending three different positions on the other end.

His role as point forward, taking the place of Paul as the offensive maker, was an awakening.

“He’s incredible. He gets in the middle of the field and picks people apart, kind of like Tom Brady,” Barnes said. “He catches it at the free-throw line, sometimes the 3-point line. If you don’t honor him, he will shoot the jumper, or go by you. But if you’re on it, you will take that all way and he will find shooters.”

And when Griffin sensed he needed to get his point across verbally, he obliged. Never more so than at halftime upon the Clippers surviving a somewhat sloppy first two quarters.

Griffin urged teammates to trust each other, but more importantly, trust themselves.

If the shot is there, take it, Griffin pleaded to them, echoing the message Paul, Barnes and DeAndre Jordan delivered.

“I tell you, the leadership of Blake and C.P. and D.J. at halftime to ‘Shoot the ball, we’re going to trust the pass. Whoever is open, shoot it and we don’t care,’” Rivers remembered. “I thought that was great for all those guys to hear that.”

It wasn’t the typical role Griffin plays. But with Paul missing, he needed to expand his leadership game.

That meant more talking.

And Griffin was not shy.

“My main message throughout the entire game was just to stay together,” Griffin said. “There’s no reason for us to just ever crumble or fall apart. We were down 11 or 13 in the first or second quarter, first half or whatever it was, and we just can’t crumble, especially in games like this. We’ve seen so many things happen.

“So that was really my message to the team. I mean with CP, obviously besides his on-court production, you miss his leadership and his talks, and that void needs to be filled. But I kind of have to do it in my own way. I can’t just emulate Chris, but everybody just responded. Everybody was talking tonight, everybody was filling that void like I said.”

Vincent Bonsignore is an NFL columnist for the Southern California News Group. Having covered the Los Angeles sports scene for more than two decades, Bonsignore has emerged as one of the leading voices on the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL and NFL relocation.

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